Wisconsin Politics Now Turns To A Bloody Balloon Incident

Wisconsin has been the scene of plenty of political altercations over the past few months: from legislators fleeing the state to avoid a union bill vote, to the state House being shut down because of protestors, to one Supreme Court justice holding another one in a head lock.

The latest incident happened, yesterday, when one person brought a balloon to the Capitol and a state employee allegedly slashed it. Where the blood came from is still a bit of a mystery.

Balloons have become a symbol of protest at the Capitol since February, when pro-union activists protested Gov. Scott Walker's plan to do away with collective bargaining for public employees and one red balloon survived for more than four months. Here's the Sentinel with more detail on Monday's incident:

"The citizen allegedly brought a balloon into the Capitol and the state employee allegedly broke the balloon. The state employee indicated that prior to the incident he slipped on the stairs and cut his hand," a statement released by the Department of Administration said. The statement made no mention of how the employee cut his hand or broke the balloon.

The citizen involved was protester Leslie Peterson, who said Ron Blair, an assistant facilities director in the Capitol, approached her with a knife and slashed her balloon.

Politico adds that in protest of the incident, activists released 50 balloons — red and heart shaped — into the rotunda.